This image is the cover for the book Everything But Money

Everything But Money

In this timeless classic that topped the New York Times bestseller list in 1966 and 1967, Sam Levenson recalls his childhood with the warmth and affectionate humor that endeared the author and humorist to millions of Americans. He describes the cramped New York tenement which he shared with his parents, his six older brothers, and his sister as a “a life of plenty”—plenty of relatives, neighbors, boarders, janitors, hugs, slaps, books, music, weddings, illnesses, cats, dogs, cockroaches, and the like. He recalls how his parents bestowed upon him a “life of plenty”—plenty of hope, ambition, and faith in education, all of which became the hallmarks of his life and career. As he remembers his parents with overwhelming love, and cherishes the ethical values they instilled in him, he shows how those values are timeless and have helped him as he became a parent. His vivid recollections of a big family, rich in everything but money, are interspersed with a deep concern for the social and moral dilemmas facing today’s young people, dilemmas which carry on to this day. Sam Levenson’s blend of sweetness, hilarity and wisdom shines through Everything But Money and offers lessons that we can all learn from, lessons that are timeless and as relevant now as they were 50 years after Everything But Money was first released . . .

Sam Levenson

Sam Levenson grew up the youngest of eight children in a large Jewish immigrant family in New York. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1934, and was working as a Spanish teacher in Brooklyn when he began developing and performing stories and comedy routines based largely on his unique biography and upbringing. He began performing in living rooms in Brooklyn, graduated to the Catskills, and by the 1950s he was a fixture in American homes as television personality, appearing and guest hosting numerous times on classic shows like This Is Show Business, Two For The Money, and The Ed Sullivan Show. For several years, he hosted his own variety show on CBS called The Sam Levenson Show, where the set doubled as a school classroom and the guests often evoked Levenson’s love of learning, teaching, and family. Staying true to his roots, he married his childhood sweetheart, Esther Levine, and had two children, who both still live in New York, along with his four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Open Road Integrated Media